by K E O'Connor
Helen sniffed. “I know. But I wanted it all to be perfect. Now, it’s a fire ruined disaster.”
“Wait right here.” Parsons strode toward the building, where a group of firefighters stood, along with what must be staff and nosy neighbors watching the flames.
“I’ve got a confession to make,” I said.
“What’s that?” asked Helen. “Go easy on me. I’m not up for any more horrible shocks.”
“The last time we were here, a ghost was pointing to the fuse box. I didn’t understand it at the time. I do now.”
“You think that’s what caused the fire?”
“I think so. I feel bad. I should have mentioned it.”
Helen shook her head. “How were you to know? Ghosts do all sorts of dumb things.”
“I guess so. But maybe I should have checked the fuse box. I might have seen there was a problem and stopped this.” I gestured to the fire.
“You have electrician skills?” Helen’s smile was lopsided. “You couldn’t have done anything to stop this. This venue just wasn’t meant to be. I’ll have to start looking elsewhere.”
Parsons returned. “This way, ladies.”
“Where are we going?” I asked as he gestured for us to follow him.
“There’s a pub along the road. You both need a stiff drink and a sit down.”
“I could do with something for the shock,” said Helen. “A brandy would be perfect.”
“Right this way,” said Parsons. “One of the firemen said it’s a nice place.”
I was happy for Parsons to take charge. We followed him as he walked across the lawn and turned left. The bright lights of a pub—the Red Dragon—welcomed us as we reached the door.
It was busy for the middle of the week. Most likely, everyone had come out because they were interested in the fire at the manor house.
Parsons cleared a path for us to the bar. He ordered two brandies for us and a sparkling water for himself. It looked like he took his piloting duties seriously. I was glad of that.
He found us a table in the corner, and we sat around it, sipping our drinks.
“Have you told Gunner what’s happened?” I asked Helen.
“Yes. I called him first.”
“How did he take the news?”
“He didn’t care about the venue,” said Helen. “He was worried about me. He wanted to make sure I hadn’t been hurt in the fire.”
“Gunner sounds like a very decent man,” said Parsons.
Helen smiled. “He’s the best.”
“He won’t mind where you get married,” I said.
“I do.” Helen looked down into her brandy. “You know how long it took me to find this place. As soon as I walked into the manor house, it had a lovely warm feeling about it. It was as if it welcomed me and wanted me to be there. The manor house wanted me to get married within its walls.”
“Other venues will welcome you.”
“We need to start looking straightaway.” Helen took out her phone.
I plucked it from her hand. “Take the day off.”
“You never know. There might be a last-minute cancelation somewhere. If I don’t look now, I will miss it.”
I wasn’t optimistic about that. “You’ve picked one of the most popular weekends in summer to get married.”
“Someone might have gotten cold feet and called off their wedding. There could be the perfect venue waiting for Gunner and me.”
“Then we’ll look tomorrow.” I kept hold of her phone. “Right now, you need to relax.”
“I can’t relax,” said Helen glumly. “Everything is a disaster.”
I exchanged a glance with Parsons. “I’ll admit it’s not great. But you’re fine, and so is Gunner. You both love each other and are determined to get married. It will happen. But maybe not right now.”
“Miss Shadow is right,” said Parsons. “If you set your mind to something, then it will happen, no matter the obstacles put in your way. You will get to marry your fiancé.”
“We’ll have found you an amazing new venue in no time,” I said.
“Maybe I should wait until the manor house is rebuilt,” said Helen.
“That could take years.”
Parsons nodded. “When I spoke to a fireman, he said most of the ground floor is gutted, and there’s severe damage on the first floor. It will take at least a year to fix it. It might be more economical to pull it down.”
Helen’s fingers tightened around her glass. “It won’t be the same if they rebuild it. It won’t have the same feel to it.”
“Somewhere else will,” I said.
We sipped our drinks for the next half an hour as we waited for Gunner and Zach to arrive. The brandy made my stomach warm, and my eyes grew heavy.
I wasn’t sure what we could do to save Helen’s wedding. She’d spent so much time, money, and effort making it perfect. Now, it was all gone.
She wouldn’t be happy with anything less than perfection. Gunner wouldn’t care if they got married in the shed in the back garden of our house, but that wasn’t how Helen operated.
Parsons had just bought a second round of drinks and was handing them around when the pub door opened. Gunner and Zach walked through.
Jessie was by Zach’s side. She spotted Flipper immediately, and they ran to each other and sniffed noses.
Helen also jumped up and ran over to Gunner.
He wrapped her in his arms, whispering in her ear as he comforted her, not caring about the interested glances from other drinkers.
Zach walked over to me and kissed my cheek. “I didn’t think you’d be here yet.” He nodded at Parsons.
“This is my employer’s butler, Parsons,” I said. “He was good enough to fly me here.”
Zach’s eyebrows rose. “That was decent of you.”
“Anything to help a damsel in distress,” said Parsons.
Gunner and Helen arrived at the table. Gunner’s arm was wrapped around Helen’s waist. He held her tightly as if afraid she might faint.
I introduced him to Parsons.
“We saw the state of the manor house as we drove in,” said Gunner.
“It’s a terrible shame.” Parsons stood to make room for everyone. “Let me get you all some drinks while you catch up with your ladies.”
“Thanks.” Gunner ordered an orange juice, while Zach had half a lager.
“What are we going to do?” Helen turned her wide eyes to Gunner. “We can’t get married now.”
“We’ll find somewhere else,” said Gunner. “I wasn’t sure about the manor house, anyway.”
Helen leaned back. “What was wrong with it?”
He shrugged. “It was too big and fancy.”
“It was perfect. I spent a month looking at different venues. This was the one.”
“It’s just a house. So long as you’re okay, that’s all that matters to me.”
I cringed. Gunner was saying all the wrong things. Helen had been in love with the manor house.
“It was our perfect wedding venue. How can you be so cold about something this important?”
“All I care about is getting married to you. I don’t care where we do that.”
“I do. And I wanted that place.”
“Then we’ll find another manor house.” Gunner glanced at Zach and me. “One with better smoke detectors.”
“I wanted that one.”
“Maybe now isn’t the right time to discuss this,” I said. “Things will look better in the morning. We won’t know how bad things are at the manor house until the fire is out. You never know. It might still work out.”
“The only thing that will make this look better is if I wake up and the manor house fire never happened,” snapped Helen.
“The fire happened, babe,” said Gunner. “But we will find somewhere else. I’ll even help you look.”
“You were useless when we were looking at venues,” said Helen. “You’d be happy getting married anywhere.”
Gunne
r turned Helen to face him and tilted her chin up. “But you won’t, and that’s what’s important.”
Parsons cleared his throat as he returned with the drinks. “If you don’t think I’m intruding, I have a suggestion.”
“I’m open to all suggestions,” said Gunner.
“Although it’s not usual, Snow Thistle castle has a wedding license.”
Helen’s jaw dropped. “The castle! Why didn’t I think of that? It’s perfect.”
“Will the family be okay with Helen having her wedding there?” I asked.
“You will have to check with them, naturally,” said Parsons. “But they have let family friends hold their weddings there. It’s not out of the question.”
Helen flung her arms around Parson’s neck and kissed his cheek. “You’re a genius. Everybody, I’m getting married in a castle!”
Chapter 14
We spent the next hour discussing the practicalities of having Helen and Gunner’s wedding at the castle.
Helen kept alternating between laughing too loudly and suggesting over the top decorations and rivers of flowers and then going quiet and staring at the ground.
After she’d lulled into a silence and started checking the ends of her hair, I ushered her away from the table and into the ladies’ toilets.
“How are your stress levels?”
“I might faint,” said Helen, “or throw up. Can this work?”
“You might have to pay a bit more to get everything delivered to the castle. It’s farther away than your original venue. If everyone is in agreement, I don’t see why not.”
“The castle is so beautiful.” Helen leaned against the sink. “Imagine me getting married in the great hall. It will look amazing with all the flowers and decorations.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself,” I said. “We need to get Countess Ponsonby to agree to host the wedding.”
“Why wouldn’t she? The castle needs livening up.”
“There’s lively and then there are over two hundred guests attending an evening reception.”
“They are well-behaved guests.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Have you met all of Gunner’s friends?”
“Not all of them. I’ll make sure they behave themselves. I will issue strict instructions that no one gets too silly or drunk.”
“It’s a wedding. That’s sort of the point. Everyone comes along to toast the happy couple, drink too much, and dance to cheesy music.”
“They can do that but sensibly. I should issue a two-drink rule. No one can get drunk on only two drinks.”
I was perhaps the exception to that rule. “You’ll have people leaving early if you do that.”
“So, the naughty ones go home disappointed. It will be worth it if we have the wedding in the castle.” She grabbed my hands. “Do you really think this will work?”
“The only way we’ll find out is if we head back to the castle and get the Countess to agree.”
“If she says no, I’m quitting,” said Helen.
I shook my head. “I’m sure she won’t. She won’t want to lose such a dedicated staff member. Remind me again how long you’ve been working there?”
Helen’s nose snitched up. “She likes me. And it’s only for one day. If we can get her to agree, I can ring the companies providing services for the wedding and make the changes.”
“Or you call Marjorie and get her to do that, since that’s what you’re paying her for.”
“What if she gets it wrong? There’s so much to remember. The flowers, cake, dresses, cars, new directions to guests. Then there’s the food, entertainment—”
I caught hold of Helen’s shoulders. “Take a few deep breaths, or you will faint. In and out. Now, you hired Marjorie to take the stress off. Make use of her. If we can get the castle for your wedding, then the only call you need to make is to Marjorie.”
Helen sucked in a few deep breaths. “What if she forgets something?”
“Then you’ll get a refund of the money you paid her. Everything will be fine. First things first, let’s get in the helicopter and have Parsons fly us to the castle. Then we’ll deal with the rest.”
“Okay, you’re right. Fly home. Secure the castle. Call Marjorie. I can manage that.”
I guided Helen out of the toilets and back to the table.
“Do you want another drink?” Gunner asked Helen.
“We’ve got no time to relax,” said Helen. “We need to get to the castle and fix our wedding.”
“I’m at your service.” Parsons stood. “Whenever you’re ready to go.”
“Now, please,” said Helen. “Gunner, you stay here with Zach and find out the latest on the manor house.”
“What do you need to know? It’s almost burned to the ground.”
“We need to get our deposit back if that’s the case,” said Helen. “They can’t keep our money if we’re not getting married there. Make sure you get it back.”
Gunner kissed the back of her hand. “Your wish is my command.”
Helen smiled and kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll let you know how I get on at the castle. You must come to visit and make sure you like it.”
“If you like it, then so will I,” said Gunner. “But if the castle doesn’t come through, we can get married in our local registry office. I’ve been looking it up on my phone while you were in the toilet. It doesn’t look so bad.” He showed Helen a picture of a room in the local council office.
She grimaced and shook her head. “There’s no way I’m getting married in a magnolia colored room that doubles as what looks like the local dog pound.”
Parsons covered his mouth with a hand and studied the wall.
I looked at the picture on Gunner’s phone. “It’s not that bad.”
“It’s awful. Now, my heart is set on the castle. We need to move.”
I said a quick goodbye to Zach and Gunner before hurrying out with Helen, Flipper, and Parsons back to the helicopter.
We were soon in the air, heading to the castle. This time, I sat in the back with Helen and Flipper.
“We can line the driveway with flowers. And we can have the swans I wanted. They wouldn’t let me have those at the manor house. They said they are too destructive. The staff were worried the swans might attack the guests.”
“No swans,” I said. “Let’s stick to exactly what you have planned. Changing things now will only make it complicated.”
Helen shook her head. “I’ll need to double the flower order. There won’t be enough to fill the great hall.”
“The roses you’ve got are plenty,” I said. “We’ll have to space everything out a bit more.”
“That will look tacky.”
“It will look beautiful.”
“I’m sure the Countess won’t mind if you use some flowers from her garden,” said Parsons through the headset he wore. “I expect she’ll like to see them put to good use.”
“That’s a great idea,” said Helen. “I need at least two hundred white roses.”
Parsons’ laugh sounded choked. “I’ll see what she can spare.”
“And we’ll need more musicians for the evening reception,” said Helen. “They might not fill the space if there aren’t enough of them.”
“No. Nothing changes,” I said. “Your plans will be perfect at the castle. Stop panicking.”
Helen frowned at me and began muttering under her breath, counting off things on her fingers.
I hoped she wasn’t planning anything too dramatic. If she got any more stressed, her head might explode.
We touched down at the castle an hour later.
Helen jumped out of her seat and was already hurrying toward the castle before the blades had stopped turning.
“Thanks for your help, Parsons,” I said.
“It was my pleasure.” He glanced at Helen’s retreating form. “You might like to talk to Miss Holiday. She seems a little... frantic.”
“If we can’t get the castle, I’m not sure what
she’s going to do.”
“I’m sure you’ll get it,” said Parsons. “The best of luck to you both.”
I ran after Helen, Flipper by my side. I caught hold of her elbow. “Hold up, speedy. Do you know what you’re going to say to the Countess?”
“I’m going to crawl to her on my hands and knees and beg her to let me have the castle as my wedding venue.”
“Maybe you could try asking in a calm, normal person manner, so you don’t scare her.”
“If I do that, she won’t be convinced I’m desperate,” said Helen. “She needs to know how urgent this is.”
“You can show that without prostrating yourself in front of her and acting like a person about to lose grip of their sanity.”
Helen turned to me as we reached the castle entrance and grabbed my arm. “What if they’re already using it on that day? She won’t let me have it.”
“Before you start thinking about what-ifs, let’s ask her.” I smoothed Helen’s hair where it had been messed up by the wind of the helicopter blades.
“Yes. Let’s ask her. Right now. I can’t wait a second longer.”
“Let’s try the parlor first,” I said. “The Countess is often in there this time of day.”
We stopped by the closed parlor door and both took a deep breath at the same time.
“Wait! You ask for me,” said Helen.
“It’s better coming from you,” I said. “I’ll be right by your side if you need me.”
“Good idea. I have to beg.”
“No! Ask like a normal person would.”
Helen nodded. She knocked at the parlor door.
The Countess opened it. She smiled at us in turn. “Is everything okay? I was most concerned when Parsons came to see me and said you had an emergency.”
“There’s been an incident,” I said.
“Oh, dear. I’m sorry to hear that.” She stood back and ushered us into her parlor.
When I stepped inside, I discovered Ralph in his wheelchair by a large window overlooking the garden.
He turned his head and nodded at us both.
“Sit down,” said the Countess. “What happened?”
“A disaster.” Helen sat on the edge of the couch next to me, her hands clasped around her knees. “My wedding venue has gone.”